Paradise Lost
by eventidespirit
Summary: “Koriand’r, you have a gift…you are able to give hope, uplift spirits, allow your optimism to shine gallantly through, even in the gravest of times…” RobStar [Part 4 UP]
1. Part 1

**_Paradise Lost_**

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_Summary: "Koriand'r, you have a gift…you are able to give hope, uplift spirits, allow your optimism to shine gallantly through, even in the gravest of times…" RobStar_

AN: As you can see from my profile, I'm on an indefinite hiatus from fan fiction writing. I wrote this piece last year for a R/S shrine episode-writing project for a special Starfire centered season. We had a whole grand arc planned, and well, the project fell apart; it was never completed. Paradise Lost is the second part of the grand arc. In the first part of the arc, Red X basically attacks the city or steals something and the titans go after him only to find out that Red X drew their attention so that he could deliver Starfire the message that Tamaran was in danger. Part two, the following story, takes place after that.

I found this piece digging through old computer files and remembered that it took a really long time to write. I didn't release it at first because I think we wanted to release the episodes in order or something, and later on, I thought that I would save this for another longer story that I was planning to write (which didn't happen). So here it is, and I hope you enjoy it. It has a few bumpy bits, plot details, a few of which I am not entirely happy with, but generally, I think it comes together nicely. The other 2 or 3 parts (this is completely finished; I just have to decided how I'm going to divide it up.) of this will be posted eventually; the speed of its posting will I think be dependent on the reviews. As always, reviews of any sort are very welcome.

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Starfire couldn't quite remember what she precisely dreamt of but when she awoke, an odd sensation grasped her…something she hadn't felt since she was called upon to return home to Tameran by the Grand Ruler to wed. She recalled feeling both joy (which she prominently displayed to her friends to not concern them) and dread as if something was not right. It was quite customary for Tamaraneans of the royal family to wed at her age or even years earlier, and it was somewhat of a taboo (among the superstitious) for a bride to know the identity of her betrothal until it was near her wedding day, yet her instincts, her dread, and her seemingly earlier unsubstantiated worry proved to be correct when it was discovered that Blackfire was Grand Ruler and had manipulated everyone with her insidious plan. If it weren't for the Titans, for her dear friends, for Robin calling to her before she uttered her vow, she wondered where she would be, how she would fare…would she be currently on the swamp moons tending to Glerderskletchh and trying to optimistically feel some sort of joy about her pitiable situation or would she dare to defy the laws of her land, her people, and the exalted X'hal by attempting to escape? She shivered at the thought and thanked X'hal that she hadn't ever needed to make such a decision.

This time, however, it was different. She felt dread poignantly mixed in with sadness and an intense longing for her younger brother Ryand'r and her Knorf'ka. Dreams, as Raven had told her, among terrans, usually merely displayed reflections, however distorted they were at times, of a person's reality and their emotions. When Starfire had asked Raven about her earlier premonitions and dreams of the Grand Ruler's summons, Raven admitted that at times, even with her gift of empathetic foresight, that she could be wrong as a sort of assurance to her uneasiness. Yet what Raven didn't quite understand was the special, intense connection between Tamaraneans, especially those who she shared a bond with.

Another point of worry was that there was possibly hard evidence this time that something was amiss…she remembered Red X's warnings. The Titans had agreed that it was a hoax for he showed no evidence, no transmission from Tameran regarding the sort of atrocity he had implied, but she was still left uneasy and a bit eager, in fact, to encounter him again in battle so that this time, she could ask him questions and hopefully confirm that her worries were based on nothing except a bit of the sickness for home and family.

She opened her pink curtains slightly and peered outside. The sun was already quite bright, the others must be in the midst of Sunday breakfast, and she would join them merrily as she tucked her worries deeply away within. Her fingers hesitated letting go of the curtains for a moment, as she remembered the d'fiah silken tapestries of the royal palace…the tapestries that she had hidden behind numerous times whilst she and Galfore were engaged in a playful game of Teku'ax…the mirthful laughter that escaped from her lips as his weathered but loving fingertips brushed against her in a mad array of tickles when he found her…the firm grip of his hands as he hugged her before she left to "wed." And for the first time all morning, a genuine smile crossed her lips. _My knorf'ka…_

_(Opening Credits)_

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The quick rapt upon her door woke her from her reverie. "Please, proceed inside." She approached the door to greet her guest as her door swished open to reveal, to her surprise, Robin with a tray of assorted bits of breakfast dishes. "I salvaged all I could after Beast Boy and Cyborg had gone through the breakfast table...I was surprised that you…I-we missed you at breakfast today."

"I am most sorry Robin. I believe that I have overslept." Overslept because she had stayed awake until an unearthly time carefully constructing and relaying an emergency message to Tameran asking for an immediate update on the welfare of her planet, but she hadn't wished to trouble the Titans more with her own worries. She deemed it perfectly reasonable that at least one week should pass before she received any bit of communication back from Tameran (as a sort of reassurance after the Red X incident), however, as one week lengthened into four…to five…to several…she became concerned, although comforted herself by hoping that there was somehow a mistake in her transmission and that it had never been received. Thus, with the help of Cyborg, she sent several more transmissions, and as of yet, none had been returned. What if something terrible had occurred on Tameran and all forms of communication were severed?

But no matter how difficultly she tried to shield her concerns from her friends, she could never quite hide her worries from Robin. "Star, you're worried about what Red X said aren't you?"

"I…I understand that we relegated it as a hoax, but the fact that I have heard no reply yet from Tameran worries me greatly. I am still their Grand Ruler, although I have given Galfore the task in my stead, I am still responsible for my people, as you are for our team."

Robin nodded and remained silent for a few moments before he spoke up again, appearing to be musing in deep thought. He leaned nearer to her and stared into her eyes through his masked ones, but through his hand, he expressed what his eyes could not…he placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder and in softer tones expressed what he thought of the situation. "From what you've told me about Tamaraneans…your people…they're tough and resilient, and if they're even half as courageous and strong as _you_ are, even if something were to happen…a crisis on Tameran, they'd be able to fight, resolve whatever the situation was."

"I thank you Robin for your confidence, but I still cannot help but to believe that something is terribly amiss and –"

"I'll make you a promise Star. If we don't hear from Tameran by the end of the week, we'll go to Tameran together as a team to see what going on…and I promise you Star, that as long as we're here, the Titans, we-_I _will not let anything terrible-" Just then, the titan alarm blurred through the tower, and the two Titans quickly rose, slipping away from one another just as Cyborg entered the room, alerting them to the situation. "Robin, Star-it's Red X, he's back…"

* * *

Red X stood atop the museum, his black cape billowing against the wind. "Missed me, Titans?"

Robin, who was completely not in the mood for the typical superhero pre-battle banter, merely shouted a "Titans, go!" as he whipped out his staff and tossed three quick birdarangs towards Red X, who in turn, appeared rather frustrated muttering that the Titans were "being all too serious and didn't appreciate a good ruckus," but he quickly dodged the birdarangs as he back flipped across the museum's rooftop. Beast Boy and Starfire arrived upon the roof first, but they found that he had seemingly vanished. Both gave the others a questioning look as the rest of the Titans arrived upon the roof.

"Careful…Titans." Robin uttered as he swung his staff rapidly around him, preparing to attack at any given moment.

Raven and Starfire both nodded as they both lifted their palms, prepared to battle as Beast Boy circled from above as a hawk looking through the area for any sign of moment, but not before he accidentally bumped into Cyborg causing him to accidentally shoot off a partially charged beam of sonic laser into the air. "Hey! Watch it!"

The half robot quickly "reset" himself and his cannon as he dusted himself off from his brief "accident." "My sensors should be able to pick him up…he's good, but not _that _good." Cyborg realigned his sonic cannon as he scanned the area, confident of his technological facilities.

And as if on cue, Red X's leg kicked Cyborg across the chest. "What if I am?" On reaction, Cyborg fired his canon, but missed, nearly grazing Beast Boy's half formed wings as he neared the ground in mid transformation. "Dude, watch it!"

Cyborg, however, was especially stubborn when it came to his technology malfunctioning. "That's impossible though…you didn't register at all on my sensors."

"Maybe I had help from a friend." Without another word exchanged between them, Cyborg fired his cannon repeatedly at Red X, as he nimbly averted each one along with the various swipes from Robin's staff.

Meanwhile, Starfire released a barrage of starbolts on Red X as Raven focused her attention on him and attempted to lift him into the air. However, her concentration was interrupted as he fired numerous Xs towards her promptly encased her in a cocoon of red. "_Azareth Metrion Zinthos" _Raven could be heard muttering, but as she struggled more, the bonds seemed to cling to her body ever the more.

"Need some help?" To Starfire's horror, with a swift kick, Red X aimed his foot at Raven, and she continued to fumble with her bonds as she fell to the ground.

"Raven!" Star attempted to go after her friend, but X had grabbed her wrist. "Now for the final prize." He leaped into the air and threw an X at Star, which barely missed her as Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy charged towards him. However, he no longer seemed interested in engaging in a battle with them and instead tossed a small metallic ball towards them. With a crisp crack, it exploded, but instead of forming a gigantic hole upon the roof, it blew small, seemingly personalized holes, barely large enough for each of the Titans to fall through. Oddly enough, before Beast Boy could fly back up as a bird or insect or before Robin's grappling hook clung to the rooftop through the hole, they hermetically resealed themselves. Red X grinned as he saw Star's expression as he tossed another gadget, blasting away the rooftop latch…she was isolated, separated from friends, and absolutely vulnerable.

"Now that we're all alone, how about that date, cutie?" A barrage of starbolts awaited Red X. "I am **not** available."

"So you wanna play hard to get?" He smirked as he leaped towards her, arm extended and ready to punch and attack as he pushed her towards the cold cement of the roof beneath him. She wanted to use her eyebolts to escape from his confining limbs, which pinned her to the ground, but he moved so quickly that she hadn't a chance to get a decent shot.

"I'd hate to ruin a pretty face, but I have to say that I am obliged to-" As a steely white fist neared her face, she winced but did not shut her eyes in fear as she caught his wrist within her hand. Using her Tamaranean strength, she pushed the fist from her and disengaged herself from him. She attempted to fly up once again into the air, but before she could, he kicked her in the stomach and attempted to jump upon her as she lay grounded-she turned out of his path rapidly, moments before his feet slammed upon the cement with a loud crash. Rapidly, she stood up and released an array of starbolts as he swiftly averted them.

"Tell me what you know of Tameran."

"Nothing I am willing to disclose to you, m' lady." He feigned a slight bow as she sent a burning stream of green rays from her eyes and another swift barrage of starbolts, yet when the smoke formed by the bolts had dispersed, Red X hadn't appeared to have been harmed at all.

"I have observed you aid us once in battle, why can you not assist me now by simply answering my question." She finished her statement with great difficulty as she intercepted several X's in mid air by her bolts and unforgiving kicks and punches with her hands. She knew that she was not the sort to overpower her opponents and then garner answers through violence, and Red X certainly wasn't the sort of villain to succumb to brute force, so she would have to defeat him in another manner…through words.

"Getting better." He snickered as she released a bolt and followed through with a rapid punch towards him.

Although she had more than enough energy to continue fighting at her current pace, she knew that she couldn't keep up at such a rapid pace forever…and there were also her friends who still needed her assistance; she needed to come up with a plan to get Red X to reveal what he knew about Tameran, if he knew anything at all. Through the villains that the Titans had fought, all of them had their own weaknesses, both physically and mentally. She recalled Dr. Moth, who had a perfectly well conceived plan of infesting their city with Moths, but his failure was within his love for his daughter and the overly submissive manner he acted towards her. Brother Blood and Slade's weaknesses were both within their own ambitions and their own obsessions…Blood could not let go of his fascination with Cyborg and his desire to fully understand him so that he may completely annihilate him, while Slade, initially, could not let go of Robin and his desire to make him his.

But Red X, in the times that they had encountered him in battle was different. He was not a super villain, one feared for how malicious and cruel hearted he could be, but rather he was a rogue, dangerous in his unpredictability. She traced back within her memories of Red X…he was a thief, he stole Xenothium to power his own suit, he assisted the team in a rather grave situation with Dr. Chang after Robin, in essence, challenged him to be a hero. There seemed to always be a sort of great pride…she even dared called it a sort of selfish arrogance surrounding Red X…she would attempt to thoroughly pry him in the area. Feigning a rather smug attitude, she uttered between starbolts, "You do not know then."

When he would not answer and instead continued to charge towards her vehemently spewing more punches towards her and tossing bright red X's towards her, she continued, narrowly dodging his attacks. Although it wasn't a direct confirmation about what he knew about Tameran, she implied from his increase in the offensive as confirmation that he did indeed know _something _and his increased frustration seemed to indicate that he was somehow held back by someone or a plan that met his end goal but conflicted his ego.

"You cannot tell me, because you are working for another."

Another steely silence followed as the two continued to exchange blows. She knew that Red X was never the sort to continue fighting without some sort of sardonic commentary on his part unless she was correct in her assertions, so she continued on, in far gentler tones…in tones that indicated that she understood and was sympathetic. "I understand that it is a most difficult situation…to wish to achieve something you have long greatly desired, but to only be able to obtain it through another's plan-one that you do not wholly agree with…yet you have no other choice than to follow the orders of a far viler and more disagreeable being." As she spoke, she lessened the number of star bolts she shot at him until only a faint, dimly glowing star bolt surrounded her fist aimed at his chest, which she slowly lowered as she uttered, "So will you help me…any little iota of information shall be greatly appreciated?"

He looked upon her face for a moment and lowered his weapon slightly. "Princess Koriandr', as your people call you- you are a fool." Laughing at how trusting he was, he jumped into the air and prepared to kick her with all of his force. Sighing and realizing her plan hadn't worked, she swiftly moved aside and unleashed an enormous star bolt upon Red X, which promptly knocked him to the ground…lying sprawled. "Red X, I am no fool; I merely wished to provide you with a more peaceful means for conversation."

His gestures indicated that he was surprised that she defeated him and wryly muttered, "You may want to check your communication devices."

Although his words resonated within her mind, she hadn't much time to celebrate her victory and contemplate her newfound information as she rushed to seek out her friends when suddenly an arm clasped her from behind. It was Warp…

With a malicious smirk upon his face, he forced her mouth open as he sprayed an odd substance within her mouth…it began with an itching sensation that spread from her mouth to the rest of her body. It smelled odd…it felt like newly forming rust rubbing away incessantly upon the surface of smooth metal…slowly, in terror, she realized what it was that he was spraying within her mouth…metallic chromium, a nuisance because of the allergies it caused in solid form, but deadly to a Tamaranean when it was found, weaponized, in aerosol form. She attempted to fight back, but instead, she collapsed as she felt her lungs and throat burn. Slowly, it was as if every part of her body, her strength, her senses was writhing away from the inside…her vision blurred and she was too weak to grasp onto anything as Wrap easily pushed her from the roof.

Everything seemed to fade away as she plummeted, terribly pained from the chromium, and she faintly wondered how she would survive this time as two warm arms anxiously clasped about her…it was Robin.

In an awed silence, the Titans rushed towards her fallen form as Robin, shakily but ever determined took her wrist in his and felt for a pulse.


	2. Part 2

_Paradise Lost: Part 2_

Robin sped through the streets replying to an emergency call from the police department: a civilian had spotted Warp in the outskirts of the city, quite near where the Titans frequently had picnics and barbeques. He questioned how it was possible that Warp returned. Starfire had mentioned how, in the future, they had defeated Warp resolutely, yet there the thief was the other night when he nearly killed Starfire. An odd sensation swept through him that night as he barely rescued her from her fall. In those few terrifying seconds, he _had _to save her, no matter what, even if it meant injury or even death on his part, because he could see nothing in his future, not even with the Titans, without her in it.

He usually relished driving…speeding through the city provided him with a sort of indescribable freedom; to him, it felt like-no, it _was_ freedom as the wind swept up against his face and body…driving made him feel a breath away from flying. But everything had been different the last few days. He had spent a great amount, nearly all of his time, even after she was out of grave danger, in the infirmary, making sure that she was indeed all right and also in private hopes that he would be there when she awoke. Slowly, he let his mind wander slightly…

_Robin stood silently as he watched her lay there, breathing but still, her eyes shut. They thought her to be unconscious at first, but upon further inspection by Cyborg's scanners, she seemed to be in a hibernation state. He was relieved to recall the few conversations they had on Tamaranean physiology-how she had mentioned that when Tamaraneans become gravely injured, they enter a state of hibernation. Although she certainly couldn't heal herself as Raven could (though Raven did assist Starfire in healing her slightly), she was recovering slowly._

_The crime log he had brought with him was placed aside, abandoned, as he focused his attention on her…how scared he was when he saw her weak and defenseless, simply falling to the ground, and to his own surprise, he found his gloved hands clasping her limp palm within his…and slowly and as delicately as he could manage, he held her hand within his. _

_The creaking of machinery alerted Robin to Cyborg's presence within the room. Rapidly and slightly abashed, he dropped her hand and pretended to be minutely studying his logbook. "Robin, man, it's all right; you don't need to pretend with us. I understand...completely." _

_Before Robin could manage some sort of proper response, the titan alarm went off. Quickly checking his communicator, he muttered, nearly growled the name…"It's Warp…" _

"_Hey Robin, it'll be all right if you stay here and watch over her. We can handle-"_

"_Cyborg, I need to be there…to fight him. Would you be willing to stay here to make sure she's all right?" He paused for a moment as he realized how much Cyborg and everyone else wanted to face Warp for what he had done…placing a firm grip upon Cyborg's shoulder, he attempted to provide his friend with some consolation. "If anything were to happen to Star…you're the only one who knows how to work all of the medical equipment." _

_A crooked grin formed upon Cyborg's lips. "I-well go get 'em, Robin." Robin nodded and without a further word between friends he and the other Titans rushed out towards the city where Warp was last spotted. _

As he neared the coordinates the police department had provided, he scanned the area searching for his two other teammates and Warp as he pulled out his communicator. "Raven, Beast Boy: report. Where are you?"

"We're on a nearby building, Robin. We haven't seen any sign of Warp." Raven muttered.

"The eagle is still flapping its wings. Roger in and out." Robin shook his head hopelessly as he heard Raven's voice come from Beast Boy's communicator. _"Beast Boy, we are about five feet apart; we can share my communicator." _

"_But you don't know how to speak in code." _

"_Neither does anyone else." _

"_Well-it's still cool. Don't you agree Robin?" _

Robin ended his role as moderator in their tiff with a terse "I'll search around the park by foot. Robin out."

It surprised him how many memories the park brought back to him as he walked through it, communicator clutched in one hand and his staff in the other. There were those endless summer nights when Cyborg would be at the grill, heating food up for everyone, while he poked at Beast Boy's artificial, tofu-made meat, annoyed that he was using the all powerful Foreman Grill on vegetarian food. Beast Boy would either be having a vivacious argument with Cyborg or he would sit by Raven and pester her until she put her book aside for a moment and whacked him in the head with her book or simply ignored him until he fell asleep. And then there would be Starfire and him, lying upon the grassy fields, staring up at the darkening skies, oftentimes conversing, but sometimes simply content with being in each other's presence. The next free day the Titans had, he would propose a trip to the park-however "un-Robinish" that would be.

"Duuuudddeeee!" Beast Boy yelled through the communicator.

"Beast Boy, report!"

"Dude…like duude…dude…"

There was a brief shuffle before he heard Raven's voice through Beast Boy's communicator. "Robin, it's nothing. _I _don't see anything." Raven's voice dimmed as she moved away from the communicator, reading to berate the green changeling. "As much as we admire your expansive vocabulary, this is not the time."

"I-but dude…dude…" He continued on, seemingly stuck on the word and tongue-tied.

"I do admit that it must take some sort of talent to have a whole conversation using the word dude. Robin, I think we'll start heading o-"

In frustration, Beast Boy caught Raven by the sleeve and pointed across the street where a red x lay carelessly discarded upon the ground. There was a rather immense factory across the street that manufactured solar power cells. "I-oh…" Rapidly, she picked up the communicator as she levitated into the air, flying across the street. "Robin, actually, we'll be a moment. We need to check something across the street." Beast Boy lagged behind as he transformed into various animals. He changed into a frog, extended his tongue, but finding it unsatisfactory, he rapidly changed into a toad. Finally, as an anteater, his tongue finally became lose, and he quickly leaped into the air, changing into a hawk.

"Dude, Raven, I am never saying the word dude again…keeps making my tongue get all tied up." When Raven didn't respond, Beast Boy continued speaking. "But you know, it wasn't as bad as that other time with that starfish…and man, that time as a sea horse, remember how I -"

"Beast Boy, I _don't_ want to know. And aren't you unable to speak when you're morphed?"

He was about to return with some sort of quip when the two of them spotted Red X dashing out of the factory, no doubt successful. Since the rogue didn't seem to have much stolen equipment on him, Raven assumed that he must have stolen something immensely valuable…perhaps the experimental power core the factory was currently perfecting. "Be very quiet, and we might be able to sneak up on him." Raven whispered, however, her words came too late. Red X had already spotted them, ready to fight.

---

Starfire awoke to the soft, mechanical churn of ventilators. She opened her eyes…her vision slowly focusing and returning as she observed that she was in a white room-it must be the titan's makeshift infirmary. Wondering where her friends were, she sat up, feeling somewhat weak when she observed Cyborg on the other side of the room, rapidly writing upon the clipboard within his hand as he checked a new invention of his. "Cyborg?"

"Starfire, you've woken…" He quickly rushed to her side, making a quite note of the readings upon the machine, and slowly, a grin formed upon his lips and with the fondness of an older brother uttered. "I knew that my girl would make it."

"I thank you, but what has happened…I recall being poisoned and rescued but nothing more."

"Starfire, you've been out for five days…we thought…we were afraid that you wouldn't make it-you're one lucky girl Star, one very lucky Tamaranean girl."

"Five days…that long?"

"Yea, had us all, especially Robin, quite worried."

"I-I am most sorry-"

"Don't be…it was Warp's fault."

"I…" Slowly, the urgency of everything rushed back to her. "I believe that we need to check the status of our communication devices more thoroughly, and where is everyone else?"

"There're on a mission; Warp was just spotted. My…you just want to get back into everything-" Before he could continue speaking and go into an in-depth explanation about how it couldn't possibly be the communication devices that were having problems, she interrupted him with a simple, pleading "Please."

"Star, I'll look into it as soon as I can."

"Cyborg…it is urgent, I believe that Red X may have divulged something to me regarding the communication devices that last encounter." She placed her hands firmly upon the infirmary bed and pushed herself up.

"Hey Star, take it easy." He held her back as she attempted to move from the bed. "You need rest…I'll look into everything right now."

With a slight nod of his head and a smile towards her, he gently shut the door to the infirmary and headed towards the roof of the tower to check upon the status of the communication devices, if only to satisfy his friend. After a quick cursory scan, he found nothing of significance, but recalling Star's pleading eyes, he decided to conduct another scan, a far more detailed one, all the while attempting to call the Titans and tell them about Starfire. He thought, at first, to do his typical sort of all-invasive scan, but then decided against it as he remembered Red X's appearance seemingly from out of no where. As a sort of built-in part of his system that served as an artificial sort of photographic memory, he was able to record all parts of his day.

He flashed through the pervious days as he attempted to contact the Titans. The other Titans, however, seemed to be rather busy at the moment for they didn't pick up their communicators. _The Titans' unanimous relief as they found Starfire greatly improving in her condition… Robin releasing his grappling hook and quickly springing up into the air as Starfire was pushed…Warp's seemingly instantaneous appearance as he poisoned Star…Red X creating mysterious holes atop the roof…Red X smirking arrogantly- "Maybe I had help from a friend" although it was physically impossible for someone in this current age to become absolutely invisible, he was **that** good…anticipation…a slight blunder with Beast Boy. _And then the answer was laid before him.

On a whim, he decided to analyze, in detail, everything about the moments before Red X's instantaneous reappearance. It seemed that he had simply emerged from nothingness, which Cyborg knew was absolutely impossible. Despite whatever advanced sorts of technology he had, _the mass of the products of a reaction had to equal its product. _He replayed the battle scene and minutely and attempted to trace potential areas where Red X could have been…maybe he shrouded himself in such a way that he avoided detection by all of his scanners. He replayed the brief pre-battle and battle scene again, much slower…and then paused at the critical moment when Beast Boy had somehow bumped into him in such a manner that it caused a weak, harmless beam of ionized and visible sound waves emit from his cannon. As he traced the progress of the waves, he noticed how most of them had proceeded in the scientifically plausible straight line as it passed through the air; however, there were a few, no, there were enough for it to be considered some, waves that were oddly deflected, and with a victorious "Boo-yah!" Cyborg punched his fist in the air: he had found Red X.

It was highly possible, he thought, that perhaps, if he had applied the same sound wave technique to the tower's communicators, he might discover something new that his other scanners hadn't yet detected. Applying a similar setting to his sonic cannon, he blasted harmless waves towards to communication devices that laid atop the tower…a moment later, he smirked, Starfire-Red X had been right; the Titans had needed to check their communication devices. Following the deflected paths of the sound waves, he quickly approached those areas of the communicators and rapidly neutralized the affected areas; he was shocked to find so many of the such described affected areas with an especially vast number of wave deflections, but he realized that it meant that whoever had installed them upon the tower's communicators hadn't wanted the Titans to have any outside contact from distant planets…most notably Tameran.

---

Robin found it odd that Raven and Beast Boy hadn't arrived yet; they must have encountered something of significance. He would be facing Warp alone then. For a moment, he considered asking Cyborg to accompany him since Warp had proved to be a somewhat difficult villain with his suit on, but he quickly abandoned the idea; there was no way that he would leave Starfire alone and unattended in the tower, especially when it seemed like Red X and Warp had both targeted her in battle.

"Amazing how you've been caught off guard, twice in these past few days. So we meet again-I thought that the Boy Wonder would be more alert." There he was, Warp, donned in the very same armor he wore when the Titans last battled him. Robin stiffened for a second as he absorbed Warp's words…it explained everything. "You-you and Red X are working together!"

"Observant indeed. Robin, I have an important proposition regarding the fate of Tameran for the Titans to consider."

"And I'm not in the mood to hear it." Without another word, Robin slammed his staff against Warp.

---

Starfire was nearly asleep when she heard a rather loud voice coming from the direction of the main room. Slightly stirred by the noise, she waited a moment. Cyborg-she was nearly certain, was still atop the Titan roof, which left her alone. She considered for a moment, calling out to whoever was making the noise to wait a moment, but upon further contemplation, she decided to be more cautious as she slowly crept from her bed. It could have been an enemy of the Titans…but she wanted to check out the situation for herself before she unnecessarily alerted Cyborg. Slowly, she left her infirmary bed and attempted to move towards the main room…it surprised her how difficult it was for her to float or to even walk, she was vastly weakened, though greatly recovered from her last battle. Walking through the tower as stealthily as she could, she finally reached the main room, slightly out of breath. To her great surprise, there he was, Ryand'r, her younger brother, before her upon the titan's main room's screen. "Sister Koriandr'? We-I have attempted to contact you many times indeed."

Her brother was before her, and she hardly knew what to think. He had grown so much, so very much that his adorable boyish features had mainly been slightly masculinized into those of a healthy and handsome teenage Tamaranean. "Ryand'r! It is joyous to see you! Have you not received my transmissions?"

"Transmissions, sister? We have had much difficulty contacting you. We have not been able to contact Earth for two revolutions of the Centauri moons."

She was surprised by the lack of mirth upon her dear brother's face; he had always been the mischievous one within the family, the one who was always finding ways to make her and everyone else about him laugh. As they spoke of general formalities, both calmly and rather civilly, although she felt an impending sort of pressure upon their conversation-they were both attempting to speak as if everything were normal and perfectly all right, though they clearly weren't. She could not help but to notice how greatly Ryand'r had changed. He was still vivacious, vibrant…his words oftentimes infused with double meanings for the effect of humor, but unlike his childish self, he seemed to merely be humorous for the sake of others; he did not seem to enjoy his own humor any longer. How greatly he had changed from his childhood self.

Ryand'r, in his childhood, had been essentially, a great deal like Beast Boy, except instead of focusing his attention upon jokes, he concentrated on pranks and wrecked mischief all about the palace, although he was too slick, too precious in their parents' and guards' eyes to ever be blamed for any misdemeanor. Repressing a giggle, she recalled a most hilarious incident when Blackfire, in the prime of her vanity period, opened the door to her chambers and was greeted by a large bucket full of Lugripoos slime of the stickiest sort. Nevertheless, the scream that was emitted from Blackfire's mouth was absolutely priceless, and as Starfire attempted to reprimand him slightly for his actions, of how inconsiderate and naughty he had been, she found that she could not say a harsh word to her brother as she saw the mirthful gleam that surrounded his aura.

As Ryand'r grew older, although the pranks became quite infrequent and he appeared to, as many of the court said, "a most refined prince," it was merely a front he exhibited. During court meetings and the royal festivals and celebrations he attended, he was polite and serious, but afterwards, after every royal meeting when he and her had an instant alone, he would tell her _everything_ amusing about their situation…how the ambassador from Gorbank kept chirping as he spoke with his heavy accent, how the haughty lady of Hissim's dress had been worn backwards, how foolishly dependent Lord O'rious was upon his speech writer-the man hadn't seemed to have been able to formulate a sentence without his writer steadfastly, whispering quick phrases into his ear. Ryand'r told very similar anecdotes about the current court of Tameran…the unrefined and boisterous manners of Ph'yzzon, a leading general of the Tamaranean military, who seemed desperate for another taste of war as he sparked very controversial debates among the court of Tameran, and extravagant, slick Karras, who although he was always thought to have been involved in some sort of ethical scandal regarding obtaining money from organizations to have him support their cause, he was not as smooth in regards to the relations he had with the women within his life as he oftentimes entered court meetings dazed.

Yet, though the stories were certainly most entertaining, she sensed that he held little enjoyment in telling them…he acted in the cheerful manner he did, merely to please her. He still was not completely truthful in the manner he presented himself, but this time instead of hiding his comical nature, he masked his seriousness and the great gravity and pessimism he now viewed the world with.

She wanted to confront him…to somehow soothe the rather skeptical manner he seemed to view everything, but her lips refused to budge…what could she say to him after all? That he had changed? Words from her lips could only hurt him or arouse anger. At the tender age when he needed her guidance and company the most, she left him for earth. And every moment as they conversed, she grew more concerned. Why was he making so many decisions regarding Tameran? Although he discussed how he efficiently came to his decisions regarding some controversial events that have occurred, why did he have more input, more advice from those who were trustworthy, such as Galfore? So rather regretfully, she decided to finally turn their conversation towards the true matter at hand. "Ryand'r, you seem deeply conflicted…what is the matter? How is Tameran, truthfully?"

His voice wavered in confidence slightly, and for a moment, he seemed hesitant.

"Please…Ryand'r, you must tell me." She paused, as she feared what he would say of the matter. "Why is Galfore not aiding in these affairs?"

"Affairs on Tameran are not well, sister." He took a rather deep breath along with a hapless sigh and began divulging the bad news. "Gordanian guerilla organizations have been targeting cities for the past three harvest seasons. Blackfire-she has returned and is serving as an informant to Gordanian affairs. And Galfore…he has been missing for two turns of the Centari Moons." He uttered gravely as all of Starfire's fears laid manifested before her.

Although warlike, the Gordanians had not attacked their cities without reason. Due to shortages, in recent years, of energy, planets in the Vegan System all had a severe scarcity of it, so much so that there was an energy crisis. The Gordanians were especially afflicted by this shortage since they were a warring nation and had expended a great deal of their energy resources on their weapons, leaving a very scant amount for more important uses such as food production and climate control. Although Tameran primarily depended upon light energy such as those from the nearby stars, due to recent conditions, they were collecting barely enough energy to be considered sufficient. Thus, the Tamaraneans naturally ended their open trade of energy with all other planets. The Gordanian government was initially quite understanding (comparatively speaking for Tamaranean and Gordanian relations had never quite been stable) in regards to the situation at hand, but as their resources dwindled in number, an increasing number of Gordanian guerilla groups attacked Tamaranean cities; many of which were rumored to have been clandestinely sanctioned by the government.

Tameran had clearly voiced its outrage at the attacks, but the Gordanian did nothing to alleviate the tensions the guerilla groups had caused between the two historically warring planets. They, instead, merely claimed that it was not their responsibility to ensure the well being of Tamaraneans.

With such tensions mounted, Ph'yzzon took the opportunity in urging the planet to go to war with the Gordanians in an attempt to satisfy his war lust. As witness to the atrocities that the Gordanians could and would commit, he brought in his informant-Blackfire. Initially, Ryand'r and Galfore were furious that Ph'yzzon had brought Blackfire within the presence of the court, when she was irresolutely placed in exile by the true Grand Ruler of Tameran, their Princess Koriand'r. But even those opposing Blackfire's return to Tameran soon realized that the information that she had brought with her, however she obtained it, was indispensable and that the court was quite in her debt. According to the former Grand Ruler, when she broke out from her prison and then reclaimed "her" throne, she had aided a fellow prisoner, a Gordanian, to escape along with her. The two soon parted ways after they broke free of their manacles, but upon her exile as she wandered about the planets, she encountered, by chance, her former prison mate. The Gordanian felt so much gratitude towards Blackfire that he, feeling more loyalty towards her than his own planet that punished him, as he ought to have been punished for his crimes, provided her with information that he had accidentally come across regarding Gordanian plans for declaring war on Tameran and was planning on passing the information onto the first Tamaranean he encountered.

And Galfore…since he had vanished, Ryand'r was given the post of Grand Ruler. Galfore had left approximately a week and a half ago, in earth time, for the city of Za'nnoes, on a typical, domestic affairs trip to visit the city and ensure that its citizens received all the supplies they needed. Za'nnoes had recently been plagued by famines and was not only lacking in supplies, but also lacking in faith that there was no hope for the city, that the once grand city known for its rich historical roots would sink to ruins. Haplessly, no sooner had Galfore and his sentry of guards arrived within the city did a large, surprise attack by a Gordanian guerilla organization launch the city into a war zone…from above in the sky, it was submerged in a cloud of thick, seemingly impenetrable dust. So terrible was the fighting, the ferocity in which the Gordanians fought with, that all forms of communication with the city were excised and the troops of the Tamaranean military sent into the city by Ryand'r with the sole purpose of retrieving Galfore safely were still engaged in fierce battle in the outskirts of the city…it seemed utterly impenetrable. And with Galfore temporarily replaced by Ryand'r, Ph'yzzon and his supporters had all tried to persuade him to take some sort of action, since they deemed him a more easily budged ruler, but he stood firm…and for that, Starfire was especially proud of him, though greatly saddened by what he had encountered and experienced…alone.

Ryand'r was soon called away for another court meeting in preparation for peace talks with the Gordanians requested by the Tamaraneans within the next few days, and regretfully, he left Starfire to burden such grave news upon her own mind. She remained in the Titan's main room for several moments later, shrouded in deep thought and worry, her hand trembling unintentionally as she attempted to hold onto the couch to keep herself balanced…after hearing all of the hapless events upon Tameran, she had momentarily forgotten her somewhat weakened state after the Titans' latest battle.

Starfire was not completely surprised by Cyborg's reaction when he saw her out of bed and the infirmary. He was quite furious. "Star, what are you doing out of bed? You had orders from –"

Although she appreciated his concern, more urgent matters needed to be addressed. "Cyborg…I had just received communication from my home. Ryand'r, my younger brother, has just informed me that Galfore has been missing for over a week. I must go to Tameran immediately."

His rage was completely dissipated as he placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "Then, we'll all go with you."

"Cyborg, I-we must go now. A week is an excessively long amount of time to be within a war zone; I fear for Galfore's life." And within a few quickly uttered elongated sentences, she explained to him the crisis on Tamaran.

Cyborg was speechless for a moment after he heard of the news. With far less of his usual eagerness, when it came to his new inventions, he uttered "I think I've got just the thing to take us there. It's still in its experimental stages, but I think that it will hold."

"To Tamaran then? We should inform the others."

"I already tried, but they must be caught up in a battle with Warp. No one was responding."

"Should we be concerned?" Although in usual circumstances, Starfire would have advocated going directly to her friends' aid, but however, in the current situation, Galfore was upon her mind and since the other Titans hadn't contacted them with a distress message, she believed that they would be able to fend for themselves at the moment.

"It's just Warp; I think that they'd be able to handle it."

Without any more hesitation, Cyborg turned on his machine, the transporter device and keyed in coordinates after asking Starfire for the approximate location area she wanted to go to on Tameran.

---

_AN: So that was part 2. I was actually sort of disappointed in the lack of reviews for this because it does take time to write, and I would appreciate any sort of feedback on this even if it is negative. So if you do read this, please do drop a comment as well._


	3. Part 3

Beast Boy and Raven were certainly having some difficulty with their own mission at hand. Red X had never been one of their most insidious, most grueling to fight villains but in this battle, he was proving to be quite the challenge. He had somehow accumulated many new weapons-Xs with tracking devices that would follow them until they were completely obliterated.

"Dude…I am getting really tired of seeing these Xs; don't you have any other letters, more interesting weapons up your sleeve?" The changeling sighed in exasperation as he sped through an array of transformations from elf to humming bird and finally to gorilla whist he finally tore Red X's latest X-shaped bond into pieces.

"Beast Boy, don't complain." Raven muttered, her eyes filled with black flame, in deep concentration as she propelled two Xs aimed originally at her towards Red X, who promptly dodged them.

Red X fired several more Xs in Raven's direction, but the sorceress ignored them and levitated rapidly past them, charging at Red X. "Let's get this over with, we have a friend to meet."

"So do I, but I'm not complaining about it." Red X threw fist after fist towards Raven, as she shielded herself and attempted to conjure items around the street such as fire hydrants and potholes, all of which were promptly sent soaring in Red X's direction.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was still destroying Xs. Finally, in frustration, agreeing with Raven's idea, he flew into the air as a hawk and charged down; at the last instant he transformed into a tiger and stabbed sharp claws towards Red X.

Red X was surrounded…on one side, the villain was met with a bombardment of objects from the street and the occasional kicks and punches, while he met various wild, fierce animals…such as swiping bear and tiger claws. Yet, the rogue villain wasn't quite daunted. He watched as he approximated the time it took for Beast Boy to transform from animal to animal. It looked nearly instantaneous, but if he managed to catch him in mid-transformation-with a swift punch, Red X watched as Beast Boy caught in mid-transformation, changed back into his normal petite form and winced ever the slightly.

"Beast Boy!" Raven looked towards her fallen friend. As Red X had planned, he extracted an electric X and shot it towards her. Caught off guard, the X swung about her tightly and electric sparks flew from it, as Raven fell to the ground, immobilized.

"Raven!" Beast Boy rushed towards his teammate and attempted to help her from her bonds. Taking advantage of the momentary pause in battle, Red X threw another X towards Beast Boy, binding him.

"How timely of you two; it's time to meet with my associate." Successful and victorious, Red X looked upwards and saw Robin and Warp battling. He shot a signal into the sky and waited as Warp drew the duel nearer.

Warp smirked in return and motioned to Robin as he prevented him from slamming him across the ground with his staff. "Red X has two of your friends. We were forced to peruse this course of action, because I would not have your attention."

Robin paused as he saw Red X upon the ground with two bound figures…Raven and Beast Boy. "What do you want Warp?"

Warp stroked his and paused. "I will guarantee the safety of your two friends if you will agree to listen to my proposition. You must understand that it is quite pointless for us to continue fighting, because our end goal is the same: to ensure the safety of the planet Tamaran."

The transporter was certainly a most uncomfortable experience. Starfire shut her eyes as she grasped Cyborg's arm and the transporter device. It was similar to the manner in which Raven sometimes transported them as she shrouded them within her soul self. Darkness filled her surroundings, and she felt her whole body constricting and distorting in all sorts of odd positions…as if she were melting, and suddenly, everything seemed to become solid again. She dreaded opening her eyes and seeing what the city had become.

Za'nnoes City was the only Tamaranean city that rivaled her love for the capital where the palace resided. Although Za'nnoes's buildings certainly were not as majestic as the capital's, she treasured the city for the memories it brought about. She and Galfore had spent many holidays traveling about the city, oftentimes shrouded and disguised as every day citizens. She recalled running, flying even, excitedly through the market places as she looked about, fascinated, by the vast diversity of trinkets and exotic glorgs and berries sold as Galfore cautiously chased after her…_everything _in its mystery seemed to be alluring: the smell of spices that seeped gently through the air, the soft, murmuring tones of different dialects, the fresh feel of dirt and rock beneath her feet, Galfore, speaking in softer tones, as he talked of the history-the story behind nearly every street, every edifice within the city. It fascinated her how Rak'nor's stone, although it didn't look too remarkable, had been the private meeting place for forbidden lovers, how Elun'a tower was constructed partially from the ashes of loved ones too poor to receive a proper burial, how Uto'pe Path was named from a literal translation of a creature with the oddest hind legs…yet despite all that was tangible about Za'nnoes, she realized that it had been Galfore all along who had made Za'nnoes such a precious memory within her mind since after their brief holiday within the city, she had come to a certain age when Knorf'kas were no longer to be thought of as a surrogate parent, but rather a personal bodyguard. The physical remnant of their past holiday and joyous memories were quickly slipping away as well.

Holding fast to the memory, she opened her eyes slowly and observed that they had arrived, yet the sight before her eyes shocked her beyond her most pessimistic expectations. Za'nnoes City was in absolute ruins. Fires danced about wildly as silvery wisps of smoke slithered into the air amidst the piles of relic. No edifices stood…only former ones, many of which were cracked and broken beyond recognition.

She bit her lip slightly. What of the people here? Had they all been destroyed? She flew slightly ahead as Cyborg, too disturbed and shocked himself to offer her any words of comfort, rushed on afterward, not wanting to lose his teammate within the ruins of the city. Pausing slightly as she looked about, she gasped as she saw hands beneath the ruins, limp and terribly scared. She wondered and prayed silently…prayed that their deaths were swift and that they had perished upon the impact of-

"Watch out, Star! Get down!" He yelled as he rapidly pushed her to the side.

"Cyborg?" Yet before she could utter his name, a shell from the sky fell upon the ground and exploded, causing some of the earth and dust to fly up into the air. She shielded her face as she felt the impact of the explosion cast her towards the side of the epicenter whereas Cyborg was pushed in the opposite. Groaning slightly as she shook a bit of dust and ash from her hair, she lifted herself to her feet. For an instant, she felt her knees shake from beneath her…a reminder of her injuries during the previous week, but fighting the temptation to rest for a moment, she quickly floated slightly about the ground to avoid detection by the Gordanians and sped off in search of Cyborg.

If anything were to happen to him while he willingly aided her with her mission-her thoughts and fears were interrupted as she saw a bright blue blur upon the ground.

"Cyborg!" She quickly flew towards and to her relief, she saw his human eye moving, wincing ever the slightly. "Cyborg! You are all right?"

"Yea, just a little bruised up." She offered him her hand, which he promptly grasped as she helped him stand up.

"This-this is so screwed up…what they did to this city." Cyborg uttered as he slammed his fist upon the ground, and Starfire was at a complete loss of words for she had no words for comfort. Galfore…she had been too late, too late protecting the earth for her own people to which she was responsible for.

Cyborg interrupted her thoughts as he muttered an apology, in far gentler tones, for his earlier outburst, but again, he had distressing news as he picked up the transporter from the ground. It was, miraculously, still in one piece, although it had been slightly dented. "Oh man…this might not work anymore." He scratched his head, in thought, as he studied the device. Although its screen was still visible, it often flickered and looked rather unstable.

"Perhaps you could attempt to fix-" She stopped abruptly as she saw something moving in the distance. She flew towards it cautiously, hoping that it wasn't a Gordanian and was perhaps, a Tamaranean who had survived the bombings. Her heart began pounding as she flew nearer-yes, it was indeed a Tamaranean, and as her eyes traced upon the Tamaranean…a telltale scar across one of his eyes and weathered features upon his face…it was Galfore.

She rushed towards him now and saw that he was struggling beneath a pile of rubble. Fragments of walls had appeared to fall above him, trapping him within. In his struggle to lift the heavy stones, he hadn't noticed her yet. Conjuring a starbolt within her hand, she used the bolt to sear through the stone, alleviating the weight laid atop of Galfore as she cut the stone apart. She then placed her hands beneath another slab of stone and grunting from the weight of it, she lifted it up and tossed it to the side. With a great amount of weight lifted from him, Galfore was finally able to extricate himself and immediately he felt two warms arms hugging him tightly. "X'hal…Koriand'r?"

"I find that hard to believe Warp. You tried to destroy their Grand Ruler, Starfire." Robin said moments later, his hands still grasped tightly to his staff.

"And that was in the interest of helping Tamaran. You see, a war erupts between the Tamaraneans and the Gordanians in the near future, and your friend, Starfire, is the one who declares it. I was merely trying to prevent history from occurring."

Robin gritted his teeth upon viewing Warp's hypocrisy. "Weren't you the one who believed that history, every bit of it is set in stone?"

The thief nodded, but continued on, attempting to explain his actions. "I did say that, but war on Tamaran must be prevented." He paused for a moment, musing about his next course of action. "I will go and negotiate peace with the Gordanians and let your friends go, if you allow my associate and me to take the items he has stolen, the solar powered cell generators; they are vital to the deal we shall make with the Gordanians to preserve the welfare of Tamaran."

Robin furrowed his brow in confusion as he attempted to see some sort of loophole within this deal with Warp. Why would he be so willing and so eager to help Tamaran? "What's in it for you, Warp?"

"The simple satisfaction of doing good."

Robin lifted his staff and pressed it against Warp's chest. "I don't buy that." Deciding to gauge how desperately Warp needed him to comply, he continued to shove the staff as he pushed Warp, nearer to the edge of the roof. To his surprise, Warp hadn't resisted, nor had he called Red X to aid him; his deal was not a mere jest then. "Tell me again: what's in it for you? I won't agree to this deal until I know."

Sighing and seeing that Robin could indeed be quite stubborn, he gave in. "In-many priceless Tamaranean artifacts, nearly all of them, will be destroyed in this war. The artifacts…we hear only of rumors of those obtaining mere pieces of them in my time, where the rich all seem to have a fetish for ancient items from different planets, are worth more than you can imagine. And if I can preserve just one mere artifact in its full, original form…people will sell their souls to me." Warp continued on, clearly overcome with his greed and lust for power and money, and it absolutely disgusted Robin, to see the thief obsessed, so pathetically obsessed with material goods to be willing to kill others to fulfill his own deluded dreams. Seeing Warp's reasoning, he was slightly relieved though that there didn't appear to be a "catch," merely a thief's pathetic obsession.

He loosened his force against Warp slowly. "Let Beast Boy and Raven go, and it'll be a deal."

"I assure you, Galfore, I am…all right…with assisting you." Starfire uttered between breaths as she allowed Galfore to lean against her. It was only when he first placed nearly all of his weight upon her, his body leant closely against hers, his hands and arms completely thrust upon her body did she realize the gravity of his injuries. Although he hadn't too many visibly terrible wounds, it was immediately apparent that he was greatly weakened. She had never observed him so fragile…and in any regular circumstance, he would have never agreed to her assisting him in such a manner. She recalled his earlier concern that he would merely be slowing them down, but she, of course, would hear nothing of the sort. Though she kept a slight smile upon her face and attempted to comfort Galfore about the gravity of the situation, internally, she was terrified for him…what if he were to-but she didn't wish to dwell upon her fear for Galfore.

Her slight smile, however, was quickly fading as she looked about…the destruction…everything was in ruins, and they were not even at war yet…why would anyone wish such terror and damage upon others?

Another shell fell from the sky and erupted into flames upon impacting with the ground as she quickly shielded Galfore despite his protests that he as Knorf'ka was supposed to be the one protecting her. Although Galfore wasn't in the condition to be moved, he recommended that they get nearer to the outskirts of the city where Tamaranean troops were stationed so that they could get him the medical attention that he needed when Cyborg found that the transporter was currently not functioning at all. As they neared the outskirts, the road grew more difficult-they were nearing a battle and shells and bombs frequently exploded, nearer and nearer to them. Meanwhile, Cyborg had Galfore's damaged communicator in hand and was attempting to contact the Tamaranean soldiers stationed in the outskirts to assist them.

Starfire had never seen Galfore so glum, and of course, he had a right to be grave for all that had happened on Tamaran within the past earth week. Although she was certainly not in the mood to jest, she maintained a smile upon her face for him and told cheerful stories of the Titans' past missions such as the bizarre Nufu and Control Freak incident and many of Beast Boy's various pranks about the tower as to prevent him from worrying about her in his condition.

"I am glad, Koriand'r, to hear that such happy times still exist elsewhere. Tamaran has not had its best of times lately, and I cannot help but to wonder, if I could have prevented all of this…all of this vile destruction and death." Galfore, much too animated for his condition as he spoke, promptly began coughing and to Starfire's distress, wheezing and gasping for air. They must hurry to obtain the aid of the Tamaranean soldiers. She cast a glance to Cyborg, but saw him in full concentration, his finger transformed to a small spark, as he attempted to fix the communicator within his hand.

Starfire touched Galfore gently upon his back as she attempted to assuage his coughing. He looked as if he wished to speak more as he tried to reassure her that he was all right but she placed a finger to her lips and bade him to rest from speaking for a moment. "Ryand'r has already told me nearly everything. Galfore, you have been a wondrous Grand Ruler, but there are some things that even you cannot prevent…I only wish that I had been here for the past months, assisting with Tamaranean affairs, instead of leaving all the burden to you and Ryand'r."

Although she would have wished Galfore to rest for a bit more before he recommenced in speaking, he uttered, in a raspy voice "I have been weary and exhausted for a long while now, Kori. I have seen my sentry of guards sacrifice themselves for me…seen this city destroyed before my eyes, helpless to prevent any of it." At this, Starfire bowed her head, ever the more regretful that she had been on earth during this whole time. "I have not experienced happiness or joy in any form until I, thank X'hal, encountered you today. Koriand'r, you have a gift…you are able to give hope, uplift spirits, allow your optimism to shine gallantly through, even in the gravest of times, so do not _ever_ succumb to despair or pessimism."

"Galfore…I…I thank you." She spoke moments later, humbled by Galfore's words. To her great concern, Galfore shut his eyes and leant a great amount of weight upon her, as if struggling and pained to continue standing.

"My bungorf, I apologize for the inconvenience, but could we rest a moment?"

"Yes, yes, of course Galfore." And she kneeled down slowly, allowing Galfore to sit down gently upon the ground as he leaned against her for support. His injuries had seemed to worsen as she peered over at his wounds. The armor that he wore appeared to have a slight tint of red, a dark red.

"Perfect timing for a break." Cyborg observed as he grinned slightly. "Starfire, I just got the communicator to work, and I've contacted the Tamaranean soldiers with our coordinates, but I think they can't see over this haze so could you fly up and give them a signal?" Before she could ask him how he managed to communicate with the soldiers, he answered the question within her mind. "Mathematics is an universal language, even here."

She looked over towards Galfore, ensuring that he was all right. He had shut his eyes and placed a hand upon his stomach, resting. "Don't worry Star, I'll watch over him." She nodded and thanked Cyborg as she uttered a quick "I shall return shortly" to Galfore and flew up into the air.

From above, the city looked barren and abandoned as fires from shells and bombs streaked across the earth. The Tamaranean ship was easy to find as it glided in the sky towards the city. She lifted a palm into the air and conjured a bright green starbolt as the ship noted her presence and followed in her direction. Suddenly, she felt what seemed like a ball of fire soar towards her-the Gordanians had seen her and were attacking. She flew rapidly in the sky, weaving about as she was barely hit by several weapons shot into the air. Seeing that the ship was still heading in her direction and seemed to know the direction in which it should go, she flew towards the ground, eager to return to her knorf'ka.

"Galfore! Do not worry; they are coming shortly!"

She stopped when she saw Cyborg's expression; he averted his eyes as he cast his eyes downward. "Star…he…" He didn't need to continue speaking, although she already knew what had happened. She grasped her arm as it shook slightly and placed her palm over her mouth as she felt warm hot drops of tears fall from her eyes.

"I'm sorry. He…he sustained a great amount of internal wounding…"

She did not hear the rest of Cyborg's words as she rushed to Galfore's side, but she already knew that he was gone, past away to the lands of X'hal, yet out of habit and tradition, she gently shook Galfore upon the shoulder, her voice wavering as she spoke. "Awake, Galfore, awake…I have returned…" The glow of energy that she so often felt from other Tamaraneans was no longer present, and from the expression upon his face, she would have through him to be awake; his eyes were half open, but glazed over as he seemed to stare at something in a great distance.

"Galfore…" She shut her eyes tightly as she uttered a Tamaranean prayer for him as she kneeled before him. Slowly, she arose…gently, she placed a hand over his eyes as she clasped them shut and placed a soft kiss atop his forehead.


	4. Part 4

Hours later, she found herself within her old chamber within the castle. Galfore was gone and the Gordanians were still a threat. She and Ryand'r were to attend the peace talks with them this afternoon, but she didn't expect much progress from them. The Gordanians were a stubborn race and proud, terribly proud, especially of their conquests in battle. She wondered then…what would be her next plan of action for Tamaran…would she declare war upon the Gordanians or would she appease them, in hopes that they would not continue to cause such destruction upon her planet? What of the Titans; was she to leave them now? And of course, underlying all her thoughts was Galfore to which she clung onto his memory in hopes that it would alleviate her sorrow.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a sentry entered within the room, announcing Cyborg's entrance into her room. He was downcast as he saw her. "So I take it that you won't be returning…at least for a while?"

"Cyborg, it would be my greatest wish to return to earth and rejoin the Titans, but Tamaran needs me now."

The half robot nodded. "I understand, and I've told the others everything…everything that's happened."

"I thank you, and since the transporter is no longer working, I have asked a Tamaranean ship to standby by to return you to earth whenever you wish to." She impulsively hugged Cyborg as he gasped for air. "I thank you for everything Cyborg, for your great help…and please, pass on my thanks to everyone."

"I-I didn't do that much Star…my transporter didn't even work too well." He gave her a lopsided smile as he handed the device to her and tapped it with his finger. "Look, it's damaged after one measly -" Suddenly, she was shrouded by nothingness once again…this time she hadn't minded as much, but when she opened her eyes again, they were within the main room of the tower, and the device within her hand looked completely damaged, beyond repair.

"Man, Star! That wasn't supposed to happen…it was supposed to be broken and-"

She interrupted him quickly. "You need not concern yourself, it was an accident."

The other Titans, upon hearing their voices had rushed into the main room, surprised to see them there within the room, as an awkward silence hung about the room. Robin's voice finally penetrated the silence as he spoke up. "I thought that you had to stay on Tamaran…" It was more of a question, a question to which he wanted to hear a hopeful answer from.

"I…there was an accident with Cyborg's transporter and-" But before she could finish, to her surprise, Robin had his arms around her and held her close…embracing her. "Star, Cyborg told us everything…I'm so sorry…" Soon, Beast Boy approached them and he quickly hugged her from the side, as Cyborg placed a hand upon her shoulder. Finally, Raven approached them and placed a hand upon her other shoulder. "If you need to talk…I'm sure that anyone of us will be more than willing to do so."

* * *

She was back within her room, preparing for bed, adhering to her regular schedule as if nothing had changed, although she knew perfectly well that _everything _was now different. She thought it odd how merely a few days ago; she had been in the same position within her room, staying awake…however for far different reasons. Then, she was worrying about Tamaran and how she had received no form of communication from them…and now, she was relieved that she would, at least have a few more days or weeks of peace since the peace talks had proved to be successful. Although she was certainly joyous to have several more days, at the very least, with the Titans for she wasn't yet required on Tamaran, she felt a soft emptiness hang about her. Happy, touching moments, many of which she would have loved to share with Galfore, only to be reminded that she could no longer do so. And sometimes, in the nights, when the memories became too overwhelming, too reminiscent of the fact that they would never be able to create more wonderful memories again, the tears would fall from her face.

The peace talks had gone well, mainly because, as Robin had later told her, of the "deal" he had struck with Warp earlier. The Gordanians, for the time being, would be satisfied with the solar energy producers that Red X had stolen. They were clearly satisfied, because as Ryand'r later told her, they had agreed to every term that the Tamaraneans set: that they would punish the guerilla organizations involved with the past attacks on Tamaranean cities, that they would have stricter laws for enforce the organizations, and that only trade ships from the Gordanians would be allowed in Tamaran. It was a great accomplishment, yet she couldn't help wondering how long the Gordanians would remain so acquiescent and agreeable.

She jumped slightly as she heard a soft rapt upon her door. "Please, come in."

She smiled pleasantly as Robin entered her room, glad to be in the presence of her best friend. "Hey Star…so how are you-how are you…holding up?" He seemed, for once, unsure of how to phrase his words as he leant against her wall, one foot propped against the wall.

"I-I am well."

A momentary pause ensued as neither of them was quite sure what exactly to say to one another. Starfire, not quite comfortable yet, with expressing in words how she felt of Galfore's passing and how it affected her, while Robin wanted to speak to her about something that had been weighing upon his mind for quite some time. What he wished to express…what he had finally come to realize wasn't yet formulated into words, but rather it had surfaced and he had finally acknowledged it the other day during the fateful encounter with Warp and Red X that seemed to have begun everything. He began, slightly unsure of what he wanted to truly express. "I think that I've come to realize something the other time when we had that battle with Red X and Warp." He paused, and although he wished greatly to properly express what laid abstractly within his mind, the words would not become concrete as he hoped that they would be. "Star…be careful; be _more _careful…please."

But she seemed to understand as a warm grin formed upon her face. "I will, only if you promise to as well; we certainly do not want an injured titan leader."

"We wouldn't want a hurt Tamaranean leader either…I'm glad-really glad that you're back with us. So I guess our next task would be Warp and see if he was truthful that all he would get out of his deal would be artifacts in the future."

"Robin, I do not mean to override your position as leader of the Titans, but Robin…I believe that we need not worry about Warp at present. We-no one but him knows the truth of the future and how greatly valued the artifacts from my planet except for him, and that is out of our responsibility at the moment. In all honesty, I am more concerned about the Gordanians."

"The Gordanians?" Robin raised his brows in slight surprise. "But Star, I thought that the peace talks had gone well."

"Yes, they had gone well and that is why I am able to remain a titan. The Gordanians, though, are a proud race; necessity for energy, currently, drove them to meet our terms. I am nearly sure that this course of action will cause some dissent among the Gordanians for it is humiliating for them to, in essence, acquiesce completely to our demands."

Robin sighed, realizing that he situation was not as simple as he had assumed, that a simple peace talk could end a conflict between two planets. "So we basically just appeased them?"

"Yes…Robin, I believe that despite the current circumstances, war on Tamaran is inevitable."

* * *

She stood alone atop the tower. With the transporter still broken and in need of several weeks time of repairs, it had been impossible for her to arrive in Tameran for Galfore's funeral. Instead, they watched in respectful silence as it was broadcast to the Titan's tower. It had been an elaborate funeral, worthy of the contributions of Galfore's life filled with Tamaranean warriors, weapons saluted high in the air as Galfore's casket was slowly carried through the dusty, cavernous roads towards the pyre, awaiting the appointed Grand Ruler. Ryand'r's words, his eulogy, was touching...she couldn't have depicted Galfore's life in a better manner. Her little Ryand'r was becoming quite a capable speaker and ruler. Although the official funeral proceedings were long ended, no one moved to leave; everyone stood in reverential silence and awaited as they watched the warm flames enshroud his body and transform it in grey ashes scattered upon a fading pyre.

She uttered a Tamaranean prayer softly to the skies and then slowly began the task she set out to complete...her own formal farewell to Galfore. She plucked petals from pale pink and lavender roses and gently opened her palms to the wind as she let the breeze catch the petals within its wispy grasp. One by one, the petals fluttered into the air, shakily wavering as they flew from her palm. In silence she remembered...tickles like feathers against her skin, his scent and how it reminded her of strength, hugs that made her feel as if she was more precious to him than anything he had ever encountered, warming words-brilliant and beautiful as the stars across the celestials, love...the love of a father that she would perhaps never experience again. Yet as she watched the petals glide across the skies, the clouds, she felt her sorrow subside and become thankfulness, then joy that she was blessed enough to experience the presence, the friendship, and the love of such a wondrous being as Galfore.

_"I shall miss you greatly indeed, my knorf'ka."_

* * *

_**Fin**  
_


End file.
